Managing onsite production pressure and its impact on safety performance in construction: An activity theory analysis

Production pressure is a known contributing factor to accidents on construction projects. However, a detailed understanding of how disparate project groups use the contract and programme when confronted with production pressures and its impact on site safety is limited. Based on an ethnographic case study of a large building project in Accra-Ghana, activity theory is applied to analyse how the contract and programme used at the interface of distinct project groups feature in production pressure incidents and its impact on safety performance. The findings revealed that the project team collaboratively made a situated use of the tools for decision-making in managing the production pressure, where production demands were prioritised over safety. Acceleration as an adaptive practice was used in determining the number of additional workers, machinery, and equipment to hire. Second, productivity-based incentives were also used in negotiating early task completion targets with the workers. The practices adopted prioritised production, which, in turn, increased unsafe practices leading to accidents. This study provides ethnographic insights into the tension between safety and production demands and its impact on safety performance.